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Amen all right we're there in Joel chapter number three and tonight I'm preaching a sermon entitled entitled how to make good decisions I am speaking on the subject of how to make good decisions And I just want to look at one verse here in Joel chapter 3 and verse 14 I just love the way that this is worded and written Very it's prophetic, but it's poetic as well Joel chapter 3 and verse 14 the Bible says multitudes Multitudes in the valley of decision for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision And of course Joel chapter 3 has to do with end times prophecy, and there's a prophetic application here And I'm not preaching about that tonight But it's interesting just the wording there and kind of the mental picture that's drawn because whenever we have to make a decision We're really in a valley He says multitudes multitudes in the valley of decisions and when you are in a valley you kind of have several ways to go several options to make and he talks about there at the end of the verse in the valley of Decisions and I want to preach to you tonight on the subject of how to make good decisions because in life you and I must Make decisions every day you make decisions and sometimes We have to make big decisions that will have big Consequences in our lives, and it's very important To make good decisions in fact it's so important That we must be very careful because the wrong choice in a decision could alter The quality and the state of our lives Here's what I know about you And here's what you can know about me whether you we know each other or not and it is this that you are Where you are in life as a result of the decisions that you have made? Whether you are happy with your life whether you are Unhappy with your life you can be assured of this that you are where you are you are where you are Relationally in your marriage with your children with your neighbors with your Co-church members and and with your co-workers you are where you are financially you are where you are Regarding your health you any area of your life you are Where you are as a result of the decisions? That you have made so in order to have a good life in order to have a good quality of life in order to Be happier in order to have less regrets you and I must learn to make good decisions I'd like you to go with me if you would to the book of John John chapter number six in the New Testament We have Matthew Mark Luke John John chapter six And let me just say this just kind of by way of introduction Most of the time What I've learned in ministry is That most of the time most people And I don't know why this is I? Think part of it has to do with the fact that people know what I'm going to say or know what my wife is going to say Or people just for some reason are afraid of us. You know I'm not sure why I'm uh Five foot four. I don't think I'm that scary, but people seem to have this fear of talking to me Most of the time I've noticed that people do not involve my wife and I in their decision-making process and big decisions decisions that will affect their lives decisions about Jobs to take decisions about places to move decisions about who to marry decisions big decisions I've noticed over the last 10 years of ministry that most people not all people, but most people refuse to involve Me or my wife in their decision-making process, which is fine. There's nothing wrong with that. You're not obligated to involve us however They always involve us when it comes to cleaning up the mess That results with the decisions that they've made Afterwards and oftentimes I tell people I say I wish you would have talked to me about this six months ago I wish you would have talked to me about this a year ago I wish you would have brought me in when it was a small problem So we could have dealt with it when it was a small problem We're usually the ones that get the call in the middle of the night. We're usually the ones that get the call On the holiday day. We're usually the ones that get the call When people need to clean up when they need help cleaning up the mess and we're happy to do it I'm not complaining to you either. All I'm saying is this since most people refuse to involve us in the Decision-making process but yet have to involve us or choose to involve us in the cleanup process I just thought maybe if I preached a sermon that could just kind of be out there Just kind of a resource or maybe they don't have to come into the presence of this five foot four inch man But they could just click a video and get some advice as to what to do with their lives then maybe It would help you to have less regrets and less scars and less pain So what I want to do tonight, so I want to give you three questions and three principles Three questions that you should ask yourself before you make any major decision three principles that you should apply Before you make any major decision and these are the same questions that I would ask you if you were sitting across the desk of my office Seeking counsel for a major decision three questions You should ask three principles. You should apply number one. We'll start with the questions three questions. You should ask When you are faced with a major decision Something that is going to affect your life in a major way You gotta ask in my opinion these three questions number one ask yourself How will this affect me or my family spiritually? How will this decision how will those choice? affect me or my family Spiritually, are you there in John chapter 6 notice verse number 66, John? 666 it's a negative number and it's a negative verse The Bible says this from that time many of his disciples went back and walked no more With him in the ministry of Christ. We are in a transitional point here Jesus goes from being someone with lots of followers to being someone with few followers He goes from being very popular to being very unpopular. He preached a sermon He gave some hard sayings some things that were difficult for people to hear Difficult for them to understand and he had a church split here in John 666 many of his disciples were told went back and walked no more with him notice verse 67 then said Jesus unto the twelve and you can really see the Humanity of Christ here because he just had a bunch of people leave him. He just had a bunch of people quit on him He just had a bunch of people leave his ministry and he looks at these twelve men that are really his inner circle and his Friends on this earth and men that he's invested in and he's loved on and he has to them this very human question He says will he also Go away He says are you gonna leave me too? Are you gonna forsake me too? are you gonna quit on me too and Peter Who doesn't always say the right thing? Peter who often sticks his foot in his mouth every once in a while says the perfect thing Now I want you to notice that Peter asked this question out loud John 6 and verse 68 then Simon Peter answered him because Jesus just said Jesus just asked will ye also Go away and Peter comes back with the question You can tell that Peters been spending time with Jesus because he answers the question with a question just like Jesus would and he says This he says Lou. He says Lord to whom shall we go? He says to whom shall we go thou has the words of Eternal life and I want you to notice that Peter in this moment when he was asked this question Are you gonna leave to are you gonna quit to are you gonna go away to are you gonna get back to Lynn to? Are you gonna leave us alone to he asked this question? He says well, here's the thing Jesus if I leave you how is this going to affect me? Spiritually or my family spiritually or the spiritual outcome of my life He says where shall we go? And by the way, before you ever quit a church you ought to ask yourself this question to whom? Shall we go? To whom shall we go Thou has the words of eternal life and Peter says is there someone better we should follow? I Mean if the question is who is popular right now, Jesus You're not very popular if the question is who's liked right now Jesus You're not very like if the question is who's succeeding right now Jesus. It doesn't look like you're succeeding You just had a major split. But if the question is what will affect me spiritually And he says where else am I going to go? He says to whom shall we go? Thou has the words of life. So before you ever before you ever make a major decision in life Before you ever make a major decision in life Before you say yes before you move before you decide before you go before you take that job before you take that position Before you go into that debt, you know before you do whatever it is that you're considering doing you gotta ask yourself this question How will this affect me or my family spiritually? And look it's a fair question Doesn't the Bible say that Jesus should have preeminence in our lives? Doesn't the Bible say seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto ye So you gotta ask this question. How will this affect me or my family spiritually? How will this affect me or my family spiritually will this have a Positive effect or a negative effect. Will this help us spiritually or hinder us spiritually? Will this be something good for us or will this be something negative for us? Or you could ask it like Peter asked to whom shall we go? Thou has the words of eternal life Where are we gonna go to hear the words of God? Where are we gonna go to learn the biblical principles? Where are we gonna go Jesus? Where are we gonna go and this is really the question that Peter was asking He was asking if I choose to leave you now How will this affect me? Spiritually, how will this affect? My family spiritually go to Psalm 119 if you would Psalm 119 if you open up your Bible just right in the center You're more than likely found the book of Psalms Psalm 119 is the largest psalm in the book of Psalms And it's all about the Word of God the entire psalm Is about God's Word one of these days I'll preach through the book of through through the book of Psalms one day I'll preach through Psalm 119 Could honestly be its own series on a Sunday night I'm giving you three questions. You got to ask yourself before you make any major decision I look I don't it doesn't matter what the decision is any major decision before you make any major decision that may have Positive and or negative effects on your life. I'm just telling you as your pastor you had to ask yourself There's three questions. You gotta ask yourself. The first question is this how will this affect me or my family spiritually? Will this hinder or help will this be positive or negative? Will we grow in the Lord or will we get backslidden as a result of this decision? Here's question two You gotta ask yourself this question simple question. What does the Bible say about this? What Does the Bible say about this before you ask yourself before you make a decision you ought to ask yourself this question What does the Bible say about? this You say what's this? I don't know. It could be anything What does the Bible say about this? Are you there in Psalm 119? You say why do why would I care what the Bible says about? This subject here's why because the purpose of the Bible one of the purposes of the Bible is to be your guide is To help you make decisions. Are you there in Psalm 119 look at verse 105 Psalm 119 and 105 The Bible says this thy word is a lamp unto my feet and they lie unto my path There is an illustration here of us being on a path. We're going down a road We're walking down a pathway and it's dark and we can't see and we've got to make decisions Am I gonna go right or left? Am I gonna go forward or back? What do I do and the Bible says that as we travel through life in this darkness that God's word is a Lamp unto my feet and a lie unto my path see it is the Word of God That is supposed to lead you along life's way It is the Word of God that's supposed to guide you that's supposed to help you So before you make any major decisions in your life, you gotta ask yourself this question What does the Bible say about this? What does the Bible say about this issue this question this subject? That I'm dealing with go to the book of Proverbs if you would Proverbs chapter 3 now when it comes to Answering a question What does the Bible say about this because I would say that's probably the most common question I get asked as a pastor What does the Bible say about fill in the blank? What does the Bible say about whatever subject someone's interested in when it comes to answer that question? You got to consider several things when it comes to Bible study The first thing you have to ask yourself is does the Bible explicitly make reference to this subject does the Bible Specifically speak about this subject, you know, what does the Bible say about alcohol? Well, you know what the Bible actually Talks about alcohol. So let's find those verses and see what the Bible says about alcohol. What does the Bible say about divorce? Well, you know the Bible actually has verses dealing with divorce and God's thoughts on divorce So let's go to those verses and figure that out and see what God says, but I will say this Not everything you will deal with in life is specifically spelled out in the Bible Sometime, you know somebody back. What does the Bible say about heroin? Okay. Well, I'm not sure why you're asking the question, but You know, here's the thing. Does the Bible specifically make reference to heroin? The answer is no But when the Bible does not specifically deal with the issue that you have a question about what you should be looking for is principles in the Bible that you can apply So the Bible talks about alcohol But you can make a lot of those similar applications to other drugs The Bible refers to being sober. That's a principle that you can apply So in life you and I when we have decisions to make we should ask ourselves this question Will this help me spiritually? Will this hurt me spiritually? I mean that really should be the answer to the question right there if the answer is no It's gonna hurt me spiritually then don't do it. But if you're still not sure you can ask this question What does the Bible say about this? And you say well, I'm not sure that the Bible specifically talks about this Okay, is there a principle in the Bible that we can leverage that we can use? To help us make this decision Proverbs chapter 3. Are you there look at verse 5? Proverbs chapter 3 and verse 5 the point is this allow the Word of God to lead you Allow the Word of God to guide you and not your own wisdom Proverbs 3 and verse 5 notice what the Bible says trust in the Lord with all thine heart and Lean not unto thine own understanding and All thy ways acknowledge him notice these words and he shall direct thy path See the Bible says that we should trust in the Lord that we should acknowledge him and that we should refrain from leaning on our own understanding The Bible says we should allow him to direct thy past look at verse 7 be not wise in thy Own eyes fear the Lord and depart from me We'll see you are not asked this question when you're making a decision You just really don't know what to do you are not asked this question. You know, what do I think we should do? What do I feel like we should do? What do I think is right? No, you had to ask this question What does God want me to do? What does the Word of God say to do? What does the Bible say to do in this situation? That is the question don't lean unto thine own understanding you say why because the Bible says this the heart is deceitful Above all things and desperately wicked Who can know it? And here's what I know about you Here's what you can know about me That you were present for every bad decision you ever made in Fact I'll take it a step further You are the mastermind behind every bad decision you ever made You are the architect You designed every bad decision every regret everything you're embarrassed about and shamed about not only did you mastermind it not only did you are Created and plan it out. You also sold yourself on it You convinced yourself that? I deserve this I Worked hard for this this won't look you can't trust yourself So Why can't I trust myself because like we said at the beginning sermon? You are where you are as a result of the decisions you made And I'm not saying I'm not trying to offend you I'm telling you every badge every bad thing every Embarrassing thing every shameful thing that I've ever made I've got to own up to you and tell you I was the architect behind that I was the mastermind behind that my heart brought that out and I allowed myself to convey you say well How do we fix that we let the Word of God make decisions? We allow the Word of God to direct our path We allow the Word of God to be a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path We lean not unto our own understandings. We acknowledge him we trust him and let him direct our path So if you want to make good decisions, here's the advice stop making decisions let God do it How do I do that well you asked yourself this question You asked yourself this question, how will this affect me or my family spiritually You asked yourself this question. What does the Bible say about this? Because supposedly I'm a Baptist, right? Supposedly the Bible is my boss supposedly the Bible is my final authority in all matters of faith and practice I mean supposedly God's Word is supposed to be all in my life And God is supposed to have all of my life if that's true then God should be able to make all decisions based off his Word So you ask the question how will this affect me or my family spiritually? You ask the question. What does the Bible say about this? Here's a third question go to Proverbs 22 You're there in Proverbs 3 if you flip over to Proverbs 22 Here's the third question And by the way, let me just say this Everything I'm telling you tonight. This is these are things that my wife and I do in our decision-making processes These are questions. We ask ourselves. These are principles. We apply in our lives, and I try to apply in our lives Proverbs 22 in verse 3 Here's question number three ask yourself if the worst possible thing happened Could I live with that? You had to ask yourself how will this affect me or my family spiritually You had to ask your foul self. What does the Bible say about this? But you had to ask yourself this question if the worst possible thing happened. I've got a decision to make here I'm being asked to make this decision. I could do go this way. I could go that way I could decide on this I could decide on that you had to ask yourself if the worst possible thing happened could I live with that if The worst possible thing happened could I live with that are you there in Proverbs 22 look at verse 3 a prudent man The word prudent means wise cautious careful a prudent man foresee it the evil and hide it himself a prudent man looks ahead and tries to identify Evil that which is hurtful that which will be hurtful to him and his family a prudent man foresee it evil And hide it himself He sees something bad coming towards him and he hides and he tries to avoid that but the simple the word simple means Not smart the word simple means not wise the fool He says but the simple pass on and are punished see the simple they see Hazard ahead and they just keep walking in that direction. I Mean we've all seen it We've all seen some guy that's dating some girl that he shouldn't be dating or some girl Is dating some guy that they shouldn't be dating and everybody's looking I'm saying what are you doing? That is that's not gonna not end well, and they're just Walking on that aisle I do Never ask their pastor never ask their pastor's wife, but they sure expect us to help them solve the problems and Here's all I'm telling you. Here's all I'm telling you a wise person would ask if the worst possible thing happened Could I live with that? If the worst possible thing happened could I live with that and by the way, sometimes these questions are not gonna make you popular But these are questions that we should ask because the prudent man foreseeeth evil and hide himself But the simple pass on our punish and by the way, I you know, let me just say this These are questions that we have applied in our lives You know a long time ago my wife and I decided that we would never allow our children to sleep over to take part in a sleep over at anyone's house You say why because of the worst possible thing happened I couldn't live with that That's why See we make decisions we make decisions based off if the worst possible thing happened Somebody walks in my office as pastor. Can I borrow this book and I think of myself if the worst possible thing happened If they sold the book burnt the book never bought the book back could I live with that And the answer is yeah, take it go for it. No problem Pastor can sigh borrow your van. Well if the worst possible thing happened and you drove it off a cliff It's not the nicest van, but it's the only van I've got so no I'll rent you a van cuz here's the thing if you Run that one off a cliff. I'm fine with that See the way you make decisions the way a prudent person makes decisions that they say they look ahead and they look at the potential Evil and they ask themselves. Is it worth going in that direction? If the worst possible thing happened if the worst possible thing happened, could I live with that? Earlier this year. I had to make a decision about our church Coronavirus happened and none of us knew anything about coronavirus Lots of people were making YouTube videos talking very authoritatively about something that they knew nothing about none of us did Nobody did anybody who tells you they did is lying And You know We had some people telling you it's no big deal. It'll be fine So we were telling you everyone's gonna die and we didn't know I didn't I'll tell you I didn't know So I asked myself this question if the worst possible thing happened. Could I live with that? And based off that question I decided to shut down the church You said what it pan out? Nobody died. Well, that's a good thing. I Don't know if you know that But you know, the point is this that sometimes we're just not willing to take the risk Sometimes we need to just get down the road a little bit and realize. Okay, it was fine. We'll be fine We can the second time around we can say hey, I think we can take that risk based off what I know now I think we can take that risk but based off what I knew then If the worst possible thing happened, could I live with that and the answer is no So before you make major decisions in your life Before you put your kids at risk or your spouse at risk Or your family at risk Your church family at risk. You got to ask yourself some questions big decisions Decisions decisions you're in the valley of decisions. What do you do ask yourself? How would this affect me or my family spiritually? Ask yourself What does the Bible say? about this Ask yourself if the worst possible thing happened Could I live with that? Ask yourself these questions three questions. You should ask yourself What I'd like to do now is just give you three principles. You should apply Three questions, you should ask yourself and I'd like to give you three principles. You should apply When it comes to making decisions, there are three principles and not all these apply to every decision But they're just good principles that I think you should be aware of Three principles you should apply when making decisions number one Seek counsel are there in Proverbs go to Proverbs chapter 11 look at verse 14 Proverbs chapter 11 in verse 14 the Bible says this Proverbs chapter 11 in verse 14 where no counsel is the people fall But in the multitude of counselors, there is safety No, the Bible says that in the multitude of counselors their safety when you ask a lot of people When you ask advice of lots of people their safety their safety in that advice and the multitude of counselors There is safety go to Proverbs 15 look at verse 22 Proverbs 15 verse 22 Proverbs 15 verse 22 the Bible says this without counsel Purpose purposes are disappointed But in the multitude of counselors they are established I I'm big into this idea of seeking counsel seeking counsel Often if there's a big decision I need to make I'm talking to people I'm calling people I'm texting people sometimes I'm just feeling people out and I'm just saying hey, what do you think about this? You know and kind of getting feedback why because oftentimes when you bring stuff up to people they'll bring things up to you that you Never thought about I think my wow. I don't know I would have never thought about that That's a good point You know we should address that or or you know there we have to take care of that first We have to you know there are things that other people Experiences they have other areas of knowledge that they have and it's just a smart thing to seek counsel in the multitude of counselors They are established go to Proverbs 24 look at verse 6 Proverbs 24 and verse 6 the Bible says this for by wise Council thou shalt make thy war and in mole and multitude of counselors There is safety look there's safety and the multitude of counselors So when it comes to making decisions seek counsel Ask people ask for advice go to first Kings if you wouldn't first Kings chapter number 12 Let me say this about seeking counsel You got to seek counsel, but let's just make this clear you got to seek the right counsel Not everybody should be giving you counsel In first Kings chapter 12 we have a very Good story to illustrate this we have real boom the son of Solomon who just became king and His followers have asked him for something. They've asked them to To loosen things up a little bit notice there in first Kings chapter 12 look at verse 3 that they sent and called him referring to Rehoboam and Jeroboam and all the congregation of Israel came and spake unto Rehoboam saying notice what they said Thy father made our yoke grievous Now therefore make thou The grievous service of thy father and his heavy yoke which he put upon us lighter, and we will serve thee and He said unto them Depart ye, and I want you to notice that Rehoboam initially does two really good things here when it comes to decision-making The first thing he does is he asked for time Notice there's five again, and he said unto them Depart ye for three days Then come again to me and the people departed so that's a great move when you have to make a decision You're just not sure what to do just ask for time I Think about it for a couple of days. Can I think about it for a few days? Can I pray about it for a few days now? Don't tell somebody you're gonna pray about something and don't actually pray for it, okay? Why not be deceptive people we have to do what we actually tell people we're doing But you can take some time and say hey, I need a few days. Let me think about it. Let me pray about it Let me seek some counsel about it Great move here from Rehoboam He asked for time then come again to me and the people departed then he did a second thing Which was a great thing he asked for counsel. Look at verse 6 and King Rehoboam consulted with the old man that stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived and said How do ye advise that I may answer this people he did two great things first? He said, let me have some time then he went and he sought some counsel and let me say this He sought some counsel from the right crowd He sought some counsel from the old men the ancient men men that are already they've been in politics They'd helped his father Solomon had succeeded as a result of these men and he looks to these men and he says what advice do you give and I would submit to you that they gave him the right advice over seven and they spake unto him saying If that will be a servant unto this people this day And will serve them and answer them and speak good words to them Then they will be thy servants forever See these ancient men. They knew something about life skills and people skills and relational skills they understood that as a leader because like I said this morning leadership is influenced and Influence is built on trust and before you can really start pushing people for a lot of decisions You've got to earn their trust and they realize that Rehoboam had not earned their trust. He had no credibility He just got in there. Look Solomon was Solomon Solomon could say we're gonna push forward. We're gonna do something great We're gonna accomplish great things and he was Solomon. He'd already been there. He'd already proven himself He'd already proven himself as a leader, but this young Rehoboam He had to earn their credibility He had to earn their respect and by the way, let me just say this This is why it is not appropriate for young men that are asked to preach to stand up here and just you know Sometimes pastors get up and they have to rebuke their people but you know what the pastors have earned the right to do that We've earned the right by being there at the bedside in the hospitals We've earned the right by being there in the office and the weeknights for the counseling We've earned the right by being there during the highs and the lows by performing the marriages by doing the premarital counseling By being there for the funerals. We've earned the right to be able to rebuke some young guy gets up here things He's not rebuking everybody. No one's gonna respect you You got to earn that trust and by the way, that's a lesson in leadership in all leadership Husband you got to earn the right to lead If you're an employee you have to earn the right to lead those people you have to earn the right to lead and Rehoboam Had not yet earned that right So these wise men they said look Rehoboam Right now These people need to know that you are for them We call it today. Jesus taught it in the New Testament servant leadership, by the way, all leaders should be servant leaders You're for them That you're not leading at their expense, but for their benefit And then Rehoboam does something that's very foolish Notice verse number 8 But he forsook the counsel of the old men which they had given him and consulted with the young men that were grown up with him and which stood before him he Asked a bunch of the kids that grew up with him The problem with asking these guys is that they had as little experience as he did They'd earned as little of the right to lead the people as he had They were simply giving a position But that's not influence notice verse 9 And he said unto them what counsel give ye That we may answer this people who have spoken to me saying make the yoke which thy father did put upon us lighter the young men that were grown up with him spake unto him saying Thus shalt thou speak unto this people that spake unto thee saying thy father made our yoke heavy But make thou it lighter unto us thus shalt thou say unto them my little fingers shall be thicker than my father's loins And now whereas my father did laid you with a heavy yoke I will add to your yoke my father has chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions And notice how they responded the people look verse 16 So when all Israel saw that the king harken not unto them the people answered the king saying what portion have we? And David neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse to your tents. Oh Israel now see to thine own house David So Israel departed unto their tents, but as for the children of Israel which swelt in the cities of Judah real poem Rained over them and he lost ten of the twelve tribes of Israel. Why because he sought the wrong counsel He took the wrong advice So in your life, you gotta seek counsel, but make sure you seek the right counsel Here's all here's all I'm telling you here's all I'm telling you be careful about getting marriage advice from your divorce co-worker If I if I needed a very marriage advice, you know who I'd go talk to someone who's been married 40 years Someone who's been married 60 years Someone who's actually been doing it successfully for a while See when it comes to making decisions you got to seek counsel, but make sure you seek the right counsel Be careful about be careful about asking your broke brother-in-law financial advice. I Mean he's been bankrupt twice, but you're gonna ask him what you should do financially Why don't you seek counsel from people that are succeeding financially, why don't you ask this question? What does the Bible say? About this We had a seek counsel before you make a major decision These are principles you should apply to your life got a seek counsel got a seek counsel go to 1st Timothy chapter 6 First Timothy chapter 6 if you would you find the t-books that are all clustered together for a second Thessalonians for a second Timothy in Titus In the New Testament first Timothy chapter 6. Let me give you the second financial the second Decision principle to apply we I gave you three questions to ask I'm giving you three principles to apply Three questions to ask Three principles to apply first principle seek counsel, but seek the right counsel seek counsel But seek the right counsel. Here's the second principle Don't make decisions solely based on money Let me just let me just say this and you just need to hear this and I just want this to get Recorded in your ears and in your mind and your heart Whenever you make a decision solely based on money you will live to regret it Period Don't make decisions solely based on money first Timothy chapter 6 look at verse 6 First Timothy chapter 6 and verse 6 the Bible says this but godliness with contentment is great gain What's great gain according to the Bible being godly and content Being content means you're not complaining being content means you're not Comparing being content means that you're happy with what God has given you but godliness with contentment You ask God that's great game You say why is that great game? So yes the world the world says Nice cars and big houses and lots of toys and fancy clothes. That's great game God says but godliness with contentment is great game. You say well God why why the difference of opinion and God says well Here's here's why look at verse 7 for we brought nothing into this world and it is certain we can carry nothing out You realize you can't take anything with you You can't take anything you own with you. God says because of that Verse 8 and having food and raiment. Let us be there with content. Hey, here's a great Thanksgiving principle He said I got nothing to be thankful for do you have food and do you have clothing? Because God says if you have food and raiment you ought to be content That's enough and by the way if you're saved you're not gonna die and go to hell How about that one? verse 9 knows what he says But they that will be rich Now the will there is not like someone who's on his way to be becoming rich the will there is someone who desires to be rich It's their will to be rich, and let me just say there's nothing wrong with being rich God used all sorts of rich people in the Bible, but there is something very wrong with having a desire to be rich But they that will be rich notice these words fall into temptation and a snare a trap and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and Perdition you say why because there's something wrong with money not wrong with money, but there is something wrong with love and money But verse 10 for the love of money is the root of all evil Which while some coveted after they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows Bible says that the love of money is the root of all evil the Bible says if you desire to be rich You're gonna fall into a temptation and a snare the Bible says that this will err you from the faith Because look you can't love God, and you can't serve God and mammon Jesus made that clear so when it comes to making decisions You got to seek counsel, and you have to never make a decision solely based on money Now look I didn't say that money can't factor in the decision-making process. I think money should factor into the decision-making Process money is something that we all have to deal with there's something we all Have to use so look when you're making decisions allow money to factor in to that decision-making process But if money is the only factor in that decision-making process you are making the wrong decision And you don't have to believe me. You just need to hear me you will live to regret it You will fall into a temptation and a snare so don't ever Don't ever Make a decision solely based on money Because oftentimes the right choice is the one that goes against financial logic Go to Hebrews chapter 10 if you would towards the end of the New Testament while you go there I'll read to you from 2nd chronicles 25 9 2nd chronicles 25 9 says this and Amaziah said unto the man of God But what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel Here we have Amaziah Who was fighting a battle? With people that he should not have fought and he'd actually already paid an army to help him and The man of God went to him and said no no no no Don't do this with send them home And he asked this question. He says what shall we do for the hundred talents? Which I have given to the army of Israel. He said I've already paid them you're not gonna issue me a refund and The man of God answered the Lord is able to give thee much more than this Look sometimes people say well, yeah, but you know my wife You know she's supposed to stay home, but we already spent all this money for her to get this college degree You know what what about all that debt the Lord is able to give thee much more than this You just follow God you just believe God You just do what God told you to do. You'll be fine Don't Make decisions solely based on money Now responsible person will factor in money a responsible person will factor in money into the decision-making process But if you find yourself making a decision solely based on money you're wrong And you'll regret it Here's principle number three Choose the best church When it comes to making decisions you ought to choose the best church Hebrews chapter 10 verse 25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is But exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching Going from church to church or transferring from church to church is sometimes needed. It's it's inevitable in life Sometimes people need to transfer churches Let me just give you some thoughts in regards to transferring churches or moving to different churches Going from a good church to an equally good church is fine Let me say that again Going from a good church to an equally good church is fine Now when I say a good church to an equally good church What I mean by that is that both churches have the same standards obviously no two churches are 100% the same But in general they agree they believe the same things you know you go from a church That's preaching hard preaching the King James Bible soul-winning standing on all the majority of good doctrinal Positions and you go to another church that that is by and large having the same. There's nothing wrong with that All right now. You know obviously I'm biased. I don't think there's a better church than Verity Baptist Church Okay, and I'm not saying that because we started this church. I'm saying that because of you You you can find look and I'll just be honest with you You can find other churches that preach the same Bible we preach saying the same hymns We sing do the same soul-winning we do but you're not gonna find another church that sings quite like we sing That preaches quite like we preach and soul ends quite like we I'm just telling you I'm bias is the greatest church in the world But going from a good church to an equally good church is fine And look we've got friends and churches we associate with and they're fine You know and here's the thing you say I got a job transfer to Portland, Oregon I you know I'm getting a promotion. I'm gonna make $20,000 a year more you know pastor. What do you think I think hey? You know what if you feel like the Lord's leading you in that direction There's a great church for you to go to sure Foundation Baptist Church. I think that's fine You know now you shouldn't make that decision solely based on money But you can let money factor into that and going from a good church to an equally good church is fine Going from a good church to a not so good church is questionable If you leave here to go to a church that has weaker standards weaker soul-winning Doctrines that you don't agree with you got to really question yourself. What are your motives? Because Again isn't isn't supposed to be our whole life centered around God Isn't it Christ who is our life? So if you're making the decision say well, yeah, I'm gonna go to this other church. It's not as good You really ought to question your motives What's motivating you to make that move and is it an idol in your life? Let me say this going from a good church to no church is a sin I Got a job in this city and there's no church in the area for me and my family to go to but I'm gonna make An extra 20,000 a year, so I'm just gonna move there. Anyway. You're not right with God And if you ask these questions is this good for my family spiritually What does the Bible say about this if the worst possible thing happened could I if you ask yourself those questions? You wouldn't make that move Look going from a good church to an equally good church is fine We'll miss you will love you but go serve God. You don't have to serve God here. That's fine Going from a good church to a not so good church is questionable Going from a good church to no church is a sin But let me just say this We ought to avoid Going from church to church if at all possible. I Believe that God calls members into the body. That's Bible by the way 1st Corinthians 12 Now I realize that sometimes it's unavoidable My wife and I when I was in the Air Force we transferred a lot and everywhere we went we went to an independent Funeral Baptist Church and we found the best church in our area We got plugged in and three to thrive and so winning and we did all that but let me just say this It's better for our children that we've been in one place for ten years It's better for you. So look just be be careful about being this person Just find the best church and go there and get connected and and get there but sometimes it's unavoidable Sometimes things happen in life and we have to make decisions going from a good church to an equally good church is fine Let me just say this be careful Because sometimes there's guys that we think they're like us and they end up not Sometimes you may just want to go with the track record of someone who's been doing it for 10 years or 15 years and You know, you know, they've been consistent But going from a good church to an equally good church is fine going from a good church So not so good churches questionable going from a good church to no church is a sin Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is but exhorting one another and so much the more as you see That they approaching go to Ruth chapter 1 if you would Ruth chapter 1 I'm gonna read to you a story real quickly and we're gonna finish up here just by way of conclusion Ruth chapter 1 in Ruth chapter 1 We have a story of a decision that was made And they made the wrong decision and It cost them a lot And I want to read this story to you and then I want to I want us to go through this story asking our three questions and applying our three principles and Let's see if this story had to end the way it did Ruth chapter 1 Genesis Exodus Leviticus numbers to the army Joshua judges Ruth Ruth chapter 1 look verse 1 The Bible says this now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled that there was a famine in the land and A certain man of Bethlehem Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab he and his wife and his two sons Ruth chapter 1 look at verse 2 and the name of the man was Elimelech in the name of his wife Naomi and The name of his two sons Malon and Chilean Ephrathites of Bethlehem Judah, and they came into the country of Moab and continued there and Elimelech Naomi's husband died and she was left and her two sons skip down to verse 5 look what it says and Malon and Chilean died also both of them and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband Now skip down to verse 19 And we'll skip some of this for sake of time, but Naomi Has now sent her two daughters-in-law away because her two sons and her husband have died Ruth decides to stay Orpah decides to go and Naomi and Ruth journey back to Bethlehem. I want you to notice How Naomi comes back to Bethlehem verse 19? So They too went until they came to Bethlehem she's coming back home and It came to pass when they were come to Bethlehem that all the city was moved about them and they said is this Naomi? She's been gone for a while and they're watching this woman in this And Ruth this young woman come and they they're asking those questions They is this Naomi look at verse 20 and she said unto them call me not Naomi. Call me Mara So the word Mara means bitter or sour She said I'm coming back bitter I'm coming back. Not like I left Notice what she says. She says for the Almighty had dealt very bitterly with me verse 21 I went out full and The Lord hath brought me home again empty Why then call you me Naomi? Seeing the Lord hath testified against me and the Almighty hath afflicted me now look based off verses 20 and 21 Did a limelik make the right or the wrong decision for his family? Answers he made the wrong decision Naomi comes back dealing with the consequences of the decision her husband made and she says I went out full and I came back empty wrong decision Now in this sermon I gave you three questions and three principles three questions to ask three principles to apply Let's just ask these questions See if a limelike could have asked these questions and applied these principles and came up with a different answer question Number one, how will this affect me or my family spiritually? I Mean if you look at verse one, it says the apart end of verse one It says he and his wife and his two sons He was making a decision here, but it wasn't just affecting him I was acting his wife and his children and if Eliminate like would have asked this question. How will this affect me or my family spiritually? And by the way, he's moving from the land of God's The land that God gave the children of Israel the land where God places tabernacle the land where God places Blessing the land that God promised to Abraham Isaac and Jacob and he's moving to Moab the enemies of the Lord And It's not just him It's he and his wife and his two son and I believe that if a limelike would have honestly asked this question How will this decision affect me or my family spiritually? I? Think he might have avoided making this decision That's the second question What does the Bible say about this I'm not gonna take the time to go through references to you, but I will tell you this there is lots of Bible about this That God wanted his people in his land that God wanted his people to avoid the heathen that God Specifically had put a curse on the Moabites and that God wanted to him to keep them to keep their distance from Moab So if a limelike would have asked this question, you know, I'm considering moving to Moab What does the Bible say about this? He probably would have made a better decision What about the third the third question? If he would have asked himself this if the worst possible thing happened, could I live with that? And by the way the worst possible thing happened and He could not live with that literally he died look at verse 3 and limelike Naomi's husband died Look at verse 5 and Malon and Chilean died also both of them and the woman Naomi was left of her two sons and her husband I Mean if he would have asked himself this question, what if the worst possible thing happens in Moab? Could I live with that could have asked himself that question he probably would have made a different choice What about our principles? seek counsel Did a limelike seek counsel? Based off the text. We never see him seek counsel, but it's interesting counsel's there Livers one again now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled The whole point of a judge was for you to go and ask him questions and let him give you judgment He could have gone to his local judge and said hey, what do you think about this? And I promise you that judge was that no but That judge was probably five foot four inches tall and A limelike didn't want to ask him What if he would have sought counsel He probably got the right answer Here's principle to don't make decisions solely based on money Well, that's a good one. Why are you moving to Moab is what the judge would have asked Notice verse 1 now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled that there was a famine in the land And a certain man of Bethlehem Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab He literally left the place of God's blessing because there was a famine at that time He left where God told him to be to go live with the heathen for one reason money and You know what? He regretted it If a limelike would have understood this principle don't make decisions solely based on money he would have stayed By the way, Abraham wouldn't gone down to Egypt either during a famine By the way, Isaac would have gone down with the Canaanites either during the famine Well during times of financial stress, it's it's not a good time to be making a lot of major decisions in your life Don't make decisions solely based on money The limelike would have applied that principle in his life. He would have probably made better decision How about this one choose the best church? Now, of course a limelike is in the Old Testament The Old Testament equivalent because the New Testament Church is the house of God which is the Church of the Living God the pillar and ground Truth the Old Testament equivalent would have been the temple of the tabernacle Eliminac was literally leaving the land where the house of God was To go live with a bunch of heathen if he would have chosen the house of God. He probably would have made a better decision But because the limelike found himself in the valley of decisions and Every questions he should have asked and every principle he should have applied was ignored His wife comes back after burying her husband after burying her sons and Says I went out full and the Lord had brought me home again empty Why then call ye me Naomi sing the Lord have testified against me and the Almighty hath afflicted me And I'll just say this Be careful about the decisions you make Because you are where you are today Based off the decisions you made yesterday and where you find yourself tomorrow Will be based on the decisions you make today So make the right choice Make the right decisions Ask the right questions apply the right principles So that you don't have to like Naomi say I'm very bitter Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father Lord we thank you for your word We thank you for the fact that your Bible the Bible literally tells us everything about everything When it doesn't specifically do it it gives us principles that we can apply Lord I pray you'd help us to be smart with our decisions Lord I pray you'd help us to take our time to ask the right questions to apply the right principles So that we might live lives that are Bringing glory to you with less regrets less baggage less scars Lord help us to make decisions. Sometimes it's hard in the heat of the battle in a tense moment we've got to make a decision help us to ask the right questions and To apply the right principles in the matchless name of Christ we pray Amen